Winter Games
Winter Games These games are magical winter/snow games that Yuko teaches Watanuki. Howvere the snow game is different in the manga from in the anime. In the manga, the game is very short and simple and can be played with very few people whereas the game in the anime is a complicated snowball fight that is best played with many people. The "living snow creature" game The living snow creature game is the winter game that is shown in the manga. Yuko explains this game to Watanuki and Shizuka by telling them to create snow figures in the park. After complaining, Watanuki makes a small snow rabbit whereas Shizuka makes a giant snow man. Yuko then explains that one of the snow figures (the most worthy one) will come to life. Watanuki says that this is impossible but after a huge gust of wind, Shizuka´s snowman comes to life and shuffles around. Yuko then declares Shizuka that winner and Watanuki as th loser. The game ends with Shizuka, Yuko and Mokona throwing snowballs at the loser (Watanuki). The living snow creature game in the manga is quite simple and straight forward. It is also more realistic (even though it is still very supernatural) than the snowball fight in the anime as the winner´s snow creature only moves a bit and does not make any big gestures. This game is also only played by Shizuka and Watanuki (Yuko is only the referee) whereas in the anime, Yuko has invited many people to the fight because the game is funner with more people. The Snowball Fight The Snowball fight is the winter game played in episode 19 of xxxHolic anime Season 1. The winter game was made longer and more complicated for the anime so that the event could take up a whole episode. This episode is a fun one, acting as a light rest and pause from the usual serious and dark nature of the series. 'The Preparations' One day, Watanuki is at school when he opens his locker and finds a letter from Yuko, inviting him and his friends (shizuka and Himawari) to the park. Thye three agree and meet Yuko at the park. When they get to the location, they meet Ame Warashi and Zashiki Warashi who were also invited by Yuko. However, nobody knows why Yuko has summoned them. Yuko hen suddenly appears and tells them that they will all be paticipatinhg in a snowball fight. Watanuki complains and says that snowball fights are for children but Yuko tells him that you can have a snowball fight at any age. Like the fight in the manga, Yuko tells everybody to build a snow creature. Watanuki builds a snow rabbit, Shizuka builds a giant snowman (using a garbage bin for the body), Himawai makes an upside down snowman, Zashiki Warashi constructs what looks like a guinea pig with wings, Ame Warashi makes a replica of the rain and thunder gods and Mokona makes a giant (larger than anyone else´s creature) mokona. 'The War' Suddenly, Yuko says that the rules are that you have to defeat all your opponents but that you can only use your snow creatures. Then, all the creatures come to life and start moving. Shizuka´s snowman is the first to attack, throwing numerous snowballs at Watanuki´s bunny. Watanuki scolds him saying that he wasn´t ready but then they all see that the bunny had burrowed a hole in the snow and so, was not hit by the snowballs. The bunny starts running away and Mokona says that he will defeat him and so he starts chasing him, however, Giant Mokona trips over a slide in the park and crumbles. The players then learn that when the Giant Mokona fell, it fell on top of Shizuka´s snow man and so they are both out of the game. Watanuki´s bunny runs away, unharmed. When she sees that Watanuki´s bunny is okay, Zashiki Warashi starts crying of happiness. This causes her protectors, the Tengus, to come to her aid. When they see that she is crying, they suspect that Watanuki is the one that made her cry and so they all charge at Watanuki and try to hurt him. However, Zashiki Warashi´s snow creature jumps inbetween them and the Tengus crash into it. Zashiki Warashi´s creature is destroyed and she is officially out of the game. It is at this point, when there are only three players left (Ame Warashi, Watanuki and Himawari), Yuko comes out and tells everybody that she was playing after all and introduces to them her snow creature. Yuko´s snow creature is a warrior the looks like a human covered in snow armor with a giant snow gun. Watanuki talls Yuko that this is unfair because she introduced her snow figure in the middle of the game. Yuko ignores Watanuki aand kills Himawari´s upside down snow man. Seeing that Yuko´s snow warrior is quite powerful, Ame Warashi declares it a worthy opponent and commences a fight with her. Her snow-rain god causes it to rain on her figure (only) while the other god creates snowballs. When the rain hits the snow balls, they turn into ice and she throws it at Yuko´s Warrior. However, Yuko´s warrior is too fast and can shoot an amazing amount of snowballs at a time. At this point, Watanuki wonders where all the snowballs come from and notice a long tube that conncets to the end of Yuko´s snow gun. the tube leads out of the park. In Yuko´s shop, Maru and Moro are making snowballs and feeding it in a tube. This is the same tube that connects to Yuko´s snow gun and that is where she is getting all the snowballs. 'Yuko´s Deafeat and the Prize' Category:Events